The Moon Laurel Immortal Palace was prudent in its ways; they would never eat the demon rabbit under the pretext of an autopsy. At the very least, they had to ascertain whether the meat was poisonous before consuming it.
Seeing the palace disciples volunteer one after another to undertake the dissection—washing pots, chopping vegetables, boiling water—all with remarkable deftness, it clearly was not their first time doing such a thing.
“Do you need a chef?” The Immortal Fairy felt it was time to show off her skills. She volunteered enthusiastically to display an immortal’s culinary prowess.
Letting the Immortal Fairy cook was out of the question. Barbecuing on the moon... back in ancient times, the four immortals had been knocked unconscious by her poisonous cooking, and when she carried them home, she left the immortal fire behind on the moon. The palace disciples were mere mortals of flesh and blood; they would never survive such immortal-grade poison.
Telling her directly wouldn't work. Lu Yang was sharp-witted and quick on his feet, rapidly formulating an answer. As the old saying went, it was better to guide than to block. Flatly rejecting the Immortal Fairy’s offer might provoke her stubborn streak; the best approach was to present a chef who would satisfy her.
And that chef was none other than himself.
“Your Majesty is of noble and delicate flesh. How could you deign to do such menial work? Better to let this concubine... err, this minister handle it.” Lately, whenever Lu Yang had free time, he had been reading books in the palace's Scripture Pavilion—especially palace intrigue novels—and his tongue had momentarily slipped.
“That works too.” The Immortal Fairy found Lu Yang’s reasoning sound. She was the emperor now; doing everything herself demeaned her status. Leaving it to Little Yangzi was fine.
“Can I do the barbecuing later?” Lu Yang secretly sent a voice transmission to Lan Ting.
Lan Ting had experienced Lu Yang’s culinary skills back in Yanjiang Commandery. There was no denying it—the taste was second to none.
Now that Lu Yang had advanced to the Soul Formation stage, his mastery over heat and meat texture had surely reached the realm of microscopic precision. It would undoubtedly taste even better than before.
Besides, she hadn’t tasted Lu Yang’s barbecue in a long time.
“I’ll go talk to the senior sister in charge of the ladle.”
“Then let him try! I’d like to see what he’s capable of!” The head cook senior sister was displeased upon hearing the request.
Having secured the cooking opportunity for Lu Yang, Lan Ting happily reported back to him.
“The senior sister in charge agreed to let you try. She said she’d love to see what you can do, Senior Brother.”
“Did Senior Sister really say that?” Lu Yang looked at Lan Ting suspiciously. Although he wasn’t in the habit of eavesdropping, the senior sister’s expression when Lan Ting went to talk with her had looked rather grim.
“Pretty much.”
“That’s good, then.” Lu Yang had worried that his request had offended her.
The Immortal Palace worked with incredible efficiency. In the time it took to wash the pots, they had already figured out why the demon rabbit had suddenly grown so huge.
“It was a reaction between the Beauty Preserving Pill and the osmanthus blossoms,” Qin Nan concluded.
“The Beauty Preserving Pill inherently has an enlarging effect, and for some reason, the freshly picked osmanthus blossoms do too. With both factors compounding, the demon rabbit’s size skyrocketed.”
“And that drove the demon rabbit berserk,” a younger junior sister added. That was a crucial point.
“Ah, right, it drove the demon rabbit berserk as well.”
“The good news, however, is that the demon rabbit has fully digested the medicinal properties. It’s edible, completely non-toxic and harmless, and the meat is wholesome.”
That the demon rabbit was edible was great news; he could fully unleash his skills. But Lu Yang still had a question: “Why does a Beauty Preserving Pill have an enlarging effect?”
Didn't female cultivators take Beauty Preserving Pills to make themselves look prettier?
Asking such a question revealed Lu Yang’s ignorance; all the palace disciples already knew the answer.
Qin Nan explained, “It’s like this: female cultivators often take two kinds of pills, the Youth Preserving Pill and the Beauty Preserving Pill. The Youth Preserving Pill freezes your appearance, while the Beauty Preserving Pill alters it.”
“Altering appearance comes down to two directions: making things bigger, or making things smaller.”
“Some female cultivators are exceptionally gifted and cultivate very quickly. They reach the youth-preserving stage while still young girls, freezing their appearance permanently.”
“That leads to a problem: their bodies haven’t fully developed yet. That’s when they need the Beauty Preserving Pill.”
Lu Yang was struck with realization. This was an area of expertise he had never delved into; there truly were all sorts of intricacies to it.
“Relying on pills is a crooked path!” The Immortal Fairy scoffed with disdain at such deplorable behavior.
As the foremost of the Ten Ancient Beauties, she was fully entitled to make that claim.
Unfortunately, her declaration as the foremost of the Ten Ancient Beauties went ignored by Lu Yang, who was humbly absorbing knowledge about the Beauty Preserving Pill.
Though he might never need it, learning a little more never hurt.
Looking at the drained and butchered demon rabbit, Lu Yang began preparing the marinade.
To save time, he chose a flash-cure method so the flavor would penetrate quickly.
“By the way, have you ever tried using moon laurel wood as fuel for barbecuing?” Lu Yang asked while grinding the ingredients. The Immortal Fairy’s method of barbecuing actually had its merits.
“Using moon laurel wood as firewood?” Lan Ting froze for a moment. That was something she had never considered.
“Wait a moment. I’ll go ask the Tree Ancestor. As long as it agrees, it’s fine.”
“The Moon Laurel Tree Ancestor has consciousness?” Lu Yang was astonished. He had assumed the Moon Laurel Tree Ancestor was just exceptionally tall.
“It is conscious, though I’ve never heard it speak. Master told me the Tree Ancestor is our palace’s most vital trump card.”
Seeing Lu Yang’s interest, Lan Ting led him deep into the moon laurel forest once more, arriving before the sky-piercing Tree Ancestor.
Lan Ting bowed three times to the Moon Laurel Tree Ancestor, performed an entire set of elaborate rituals, and asked respectfully, “This disciple wishes to fell a moon laurel tree to use as firewood. We hope the Tree Ancestor will grant our request.”
Rustle, rustle, rustle.
Without any wind, the colossal branches swayed on their own, rustling softly.
Lan Ting raised her head in delight. “The Tree Ancestor agreed!”
Lu Yang had not expected the Tree Ancestor to be so agreeable, and he bowed to it three times as well.
With the Tree Ancestor’s nod of approval, the two began searching for a suitable moon laurel tree. Since a moon laurel tree needed to be felled in a single stroke, picking one that was too thick risked embarrassment if he failed, while one that was too thin wouldn't yield enough firewood.
“This one looks about right.” Lu Yang patted a nearby moon laurel tree, roughly as thick as a person could wrap their arms around.
“Isn’t that too thick?” Lan Ting knew she certainly couldn't chop down a moon laurel tree of that size.
“We’ll know once I try.” Lu Yang drew his Green Blade Sword and tapped the tree trunk. He had never chopped a moon laurel tree before, so this was a brand-new experience.
Within the Green Blade Sword, Ten Thousand Swords Returned to the Origin. Lu Yang’s gaze narrowed. Unifying his waist and horse stance, he drove his right foot into the ground, torqued his body, and channeled all his strength into the Green Blade Sword, shouting with a roar:
“Slash!”
Crack!
With that single strike, the Green Blade Sword sank halfway into the trunk.
It didn't cut all the way through.
Lu Yang scratched his head. He had hoped to look cool in front of Lan Ting, but had failed.
Just as he was about to say something to defuse the awkwardness, Lan Ting pointed in shock at the half-severed tree.
“The moon laurel tree isn't healing!”
This was something that had never happened before!
Seeing this, Lu Yang swung his sword once more!
Crack—rumble—
The moon laurel tree crashed to the ground.
“Strange. Did I chop it so fast that the tree couldn't heal in time?” Lu Yang hoisted the moon laurel tree onto his shoulder, thoroughly bewildered.
The Immortal Fairy rolled her eyes. What did he mean, couldn't heal in time? The Moon Laurel Tree Ancestor had obviously controlled this tree on purpose, preventing it from regenerating.
*It takes pretty good care of Little Yangzi.*
Chapter 1020